Month: November 2018

This is the simplest cauliflower soup. And it is so dang good. The ingredient list is shorter than short, and if you have a great yellow curry paste on hand (or even just a good one), it is worth making.

I love the super silky texture you get from blending this soup in a high-speed blender, but a hand-blender is B+ level good as well. So, don’t sweat the equipment side of things too much.

This is the latest in a long-running series of love letter recipes to simple pureed soups, including (get ready 😉 carrot soup, asparagus soup, green soup, tomato soup, also this broccoli soup. What I’m saying is, blender soups forever.

I get a little crazy with the toppings, but the soup is good simple and straight too. Here the cauliflower soup is topped with toasted pine nuts, fried shallots, and hemp seeds, and more of the yellow curry paste whisked with a bit of shallot oil. You could also season this with a favorite Indian spice blend, for another take. Or a simple showering of fresh herbs. Play around!

Making really good Instant Pot minestrone soup with dried, un-soaked beans is possible. I wasn’t sure at first, and it required a few attempts to get the recipe right, but check it out! Deliciousness. Let’s start at the beginning. Like many of you, I love minestrone soup. It’s hearty and filling. It’s healthy, made with a diverse mix of ingredients your body wants more of. And, if you have an Instant Pot, a good minestrone is going to be one of your standbys.

Instant Pot Minestrone Soup: The Strategy

Ok, so most of the IP minestrone recipes I see rely on canned beans, which I was hoping to avoid. Instead, I wanted to develop a minestrone version from dried beans – un-soaked(!) dried beans. Because, that way, you don’t have to plan ahead. Second, I want to avoid that murky, overcooked, canned soup flavor (and texture) we’re all familiar with – it shows up when you use canned beans and then cook them again under pressure. The size you cut your ingredients ended up being important as well, and so was when you add them to the pot. I landed on a specific order here that maintains brightness, acidity, flavor definition, and general deliciousness. More on that below!

A few notes & techniques

Potatoes: I found any potatoes cut too small turn to mush after cooking under pressure for 35+ minutes. Not great. So, I started using big chunks of potato, really big – and they’re incredible! Creamy, perfectly cooked, and nicely structured. Carrots are more dense, and handle the pressure just fine.

Tomatoes & Kale: I think the inclination is to add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot, seal it up, and go for it. The minestrones I attempted to cook this way lost a lot of vibrancy. But not this version! This version has you stir in crushed tomatoes, and kale immediately after releasing pressure. The acidity of the tomatoes brightens the soup immediately, and holding the kale back until the last minute keeps a bit of structure, color, and flavor definition.

Pasta: A lot of people love to add pasta to their minestrone soup. You can certainly add a handful of dried, short pasta before pressurizing, but, quite honestly, it’s much better if you cook the pasta on its own. You can also stir dried pasta into the soup directly after it has pressure cooked, adding a bit more water if things get too thick. In short, on the pasta front, you can be pretty flexible. It’s open to personal preference (and how convenient you’d like the process to be).

Serving Ideas

I like this minestrone straight and simple, and I also like it flaired out with toppings. A few ideas: a dollop of pesto, a drizzle of lemon olive oil, or a big squeeze of bright lemon, some chopped olives. Stir in a couple of handfuls of day old bread for something more like a ribollita.

Peanut Butter Balls are one of the most requested no bake treats I make! They are always the first thing gone on any cookie platter, and they are just the perfect, easy, chocolate peanut butter treat!

Here we are on Day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies and I’ve already deviated from the whole “cookie” part of the program. BUT, in case you missed the first few days, I’ve shared the best recipe for Easy Sugar Cookies ever, Crock Pot Candy, and Chocolate Chip Shortbread so go catch up!

A kitchen flamethrower is more than just a gimmicky gadget. It’s actually—dare I say—practical. I’ve abandoned all childhood safety rules in the kitchen and can confidently say I play with fire. With a cooking torch, naturally. Equipping yourself with a canister of butane and handheld torch may sound like an at-home chemistry experiment about to […]

If you have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, make this White Turkey Chili! It’s made with white beans, green chilis, garlic, and of course, turkey. A winning combination that’s sure to warm you up on a chilly winter night.

Sheet Pan Pork Tenderloin with Maple Rosemary Brussels Sprouts

The holiday season is here! Things are so busy this time of year with holiday shopping, holiday parties, and either getting ready to travel for the holidays or host relatives in your own home. All of this craziness can make dinner preparation kind of challenging.

My goal today is to share a recipe with few ingredients that is very simple to make. This Sheet Pan Pork Tenderloin is an easy dinner recipe for you to try.

Here are the main ingredients you’ll need for this Sheet Pan Pork Tenderloin recipe:

This variety of pork is so perfect for this recipe because it has already been seasoned, and you don’t have to wait for anything to marinate.

WHERE DO YOU BUY SMITHFIELD PORK?

I see the Smithfield pork products most often at Walmart, but several grocery retailers around the country carry their products too– Bashas, Winco and Fry’s to name a few. Smithfield already marinated pork is available in a variety of cuts- pork roasts, loin filets, chops, ribs, sirloin and tenderloins.

How to make Sheet Pan Pork Tenderloin with Maple Rosemary Brussels Sprouts:

Since the pork is already marinated with wonderful flavor, you’ll just go ahead and remove it from the packaging and place it in the center of your sheet pan. You don’t have to marinate it or add spices or flavorings to the pork in any way because it’s perfect the way it is. The brussels sprouts are tossed with maple syrup, fresh rosemary and a splash of olive oil. I add in some sliced red onion if I happen to have some on hand, but it’s totally optional. A quick sprinkle of garlic powder, salt and pepper, and the sheet pan pork tenderloin is ready for the oven.

Do you have to use a sheet pan for this recipe?

No, you don’t have to have a sheet pan to make this recipe. But it’s so much easier if you do! If you don’t own a sheet pan, you might consider buying one or two of them. They’re a good price on Amazon. They’re called, “Half Sheet Pans,” and Amazon sells them in a two-pack for under $20. I use them for so many things– roasting vegetables and baking cookies are what I use sheet pans for most.

If you don’t have a sheet pan, you can use any kind of low-lying pan where you can lay out the pork tenderloin with the brussels sprouts surrounding it. Line it with parchment for easier clean-up.

At what temperature is pork safe to eat?

The USDA recommends that it’s safe to cook cuts of pork to 145 degrees F. Then give it a 3-minute rest period. During that time, the temperature will naturally rise a little bit more.

Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature while cooking. I have this Digital Meat Thermometer, and I use it every time I make pork or beef. It’s great because you can insert the probe into the meat, and the probe has a long cord that attaches to the monitor. The monitor sits on your counter and beeps when it reaches the temperature you set.

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, slice into the thickest part of the loin and check that the tenderloin is pale with juices running from the cut. Look for meat that is mostly white with a slight hint of pale pink. The juices should run mostly clear.

When to serve this Sheet Pan Pork Tenderloin recipe:

If you’re looking for a super easy dinner to make during the holiday season, this sheet pan pork tenderloin recipe is certainly festive enough. It’s also perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. I like to make this dinner for just my husband and me, and then we have leftovers to eat the following night.

Here are a few more recipes using Smithfield Marinated Pork:

Pork with Peach Sauce

Bacon Peppered Pork Tenderloin

Grilled Pork and Vegetable Teriyaki Noodle Bowls

One Pan Pork with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Roasted Pork with Blackberry Sauce

For more product information and recipe inspiration, visit www.Smithfield.com.

Keeping things healthy and cozy today with this one pan Broccoli Cheese Wild Rice Casserole. Roasted broccoli, fresh herbs, hearty wild rice, and plenty of melty cheese, all together in one casserole. This is equally great as a healthy vegetarian main course or as a side dish for your next holiday roast. Either way you […]

The post One Pan Broccoli Cheese Wild Rice Casserole. appeared first on Half Baked Harvest.

’Tis the season! I feel like the day after Thanksgiving my neighborhood goes into Holiday high gear. Literally every single house in my neighborhood is already decked out with holiday decorations, trees, Santas on the roof. I’m over here trying to recover from Thanksgiving lol. Today is as good as any day to get the party started! I’m starting easy, grooving into the holiday season with breakfast. For this post, I teamed up with JUST and their new product JUST egg. I used it over the summer, remember? It’s a product that truly blows my mind because it’s made from mung beans and yet it tastes just like eggs (texture and flavor). IT’s wild! You can add it to a skillet and it’ll scramble exactly like chicken eggs. I It’s plant-based, packed with protein and completely free of dairy, cholesterol, artificial flavoring. In this instance, we’re using it to make French toast. And it couldn’t be more simple. You simply squeeze out the JUST egg into a dish and whisk it with the French toast usuals: vanilla, cinnamon and a little bit of sugar. To made it a lil’ bit more interesting, I made a cranberry maple syrup that is […]

Give this banana bread recipe a go! It’s perfect if you’re craving classic banana bread flavor and texture, but want as little mess, drama, and equipment as possible. It’s the laziest, best, one-bowl banana bread I know. Still with big pay-off. The promise? No mixer, a single bowl, classic flavor, and a moist and tender crumb. If you have three ripe bananas on hand, chances are good you have the rest of the ingredients as well. Let’s do this!

A Better Banana Bread Recipe

What you’ll get here is a straight-ahead banana bread, or as straight-forward as I get. I like my baked goods to have rustic wholesomeness to them, which is why you see a portion of whole wheat flour and brown sugar here. Consequently, it makes your banana bread more nutritious, extra special, and delicious (when compared to versions with white sugar and white flour).

Banana Bread Inspiration

This particular banana bread recipe evolved into its current lazy-day state from this Melissa Clark gem. I skipped any add-ins for simplicity’s sake here, and would recommend a banana-only first pass. That said, you can absolutely add ingredients like toasted nuts, chocolate chunks, citrus zests, herbs, toasted coconut, glazes, etc!

This is for everyone who ordered an Instant Pot recently, and also, somewhat selfishly, for myself. It’s an Instant Pot Starter Guide – all the links, references, and resources I’ve collected as I get to know my 9-in-1 Instant Pot. I’ve also compiled 40 Essential Instant Pot Links, and have a (growing!) collection of Instant Pot recipes. Also, If you’re still thinking about purchasing an Instant Pot or Multi-cooker, this buying tool might help. It can help you decide which Instant Pot / multi-cooker / pressure cooker to purchase based on the features important to you: Instant Pot Buying Guide.

Let me start by saying, my road to the Instant Pot hasn’t exactly been straight. I like to think I shy away from of-the-moment appliances, and instead, have collected a good number of donabe, flameware, and other clay cooking vessels that I cherish and cook with regularly. That said, I’ve been increasingly intrigued by sweeping Instant Pot mania (couldn’t be later to the party, I know). Additionally, some of my favorite cooks are making magic, or at least dinner, with them.

What tipped the balance? One of my favorite cookbook authors released Dinner in an Instant: 75 Modern Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot. I buy every Melissa Clark book. Every one. So, it seemed like the time to join the Instant Pot tribe, and have a little fun. Also, the newest Instant Pot has a yogurt function! And, furthermore, it has eight other functions – pressure, slow cooker, rice cooker, egg cooker, sauté mode, steamer, and on and on. Oh, and people are baking cakes in them?! Woah.

First impression stepping into this world? It’s a lot. My guess is that many of you are either looking for instruction and inspiration (like me), or you are way ahead, and have your own favorite resources. So that’s what this post is about. I actually needed an Instant Pot Starter Guide, and suspect many of you might as well.

I’m going to include my “best-of” list here, including anything that catches my attention, anything I don’t want to lose track of – and I’ll try to keep this list updated over time. But, please, if you’re seasoned in the Instant Pot arts, with ideas, favorite tricks, inspiration, and whatnot – please (please!) leave a comment. And lastly, as I work on recipes, I’ll link to favorites here:

INSTANT POT STARTER GUIDE BASICS

– This is the Instant Pot I purchased: Instant Pot DUO Plus 6 Qt 9-in-1 Also! Note, there are over 1000 questions answered on this page. A lot of good questions, a lot of good answers.

OFFICIAL INSTANT POT

The official Instant Pot site, it has videos, updated information related to the different models available, FAQs, and a recipe database. There is also a lively Facebook community, and Pinterest page. There is also an official Instant Pot Cookbook: The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook by Coco Morante.

THE GUIDES & REFERENCES

– How To Use an Instant Pot: A Guide by Melissa Clark (NY Times)

– This is How to Become an Instant Pot Whisperer (101 Cookbooks)

– The Instant Pot manual has tables with timing recommendations, this site has more.

– Inside the Home of Instant Pot, the Kitchen Gadget That Spawned a Religion (NY Times)

– Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans & Pressure Cooking Guide (PDF)

INSTANT POT LOVE STORIES

– Why Do Cooks Love the Instant Pot? I Bought One to Find Out (NY Times)

– I Tried The $99 Kitchen Gadget That Everyone’s Obsessed With (Buzzfeed)

– After Cooking All My Meals in an Instant Pot for a Week, I Get What All the Hype Is About (Self)

MORE INSTANT POT RECIPE INSPIRATION

I want to make amazing thali plates with this thing. That’s my personal holy grail of Instant Potting.

– Ministry of Curry Instant Pot Recipes

– Ten Instant Pot Recipes Ready in 30 Minutes or Less (The Kitchn)

– Detoxinista / Instant Pot Recipes

– Cook With Manali / Instant Pot Recipes

– Five One Pot Indian Stews (Tasting Table)

– I’m excited about the concept of layering (or, pot-in-pot cooking)! For example, you use racks and containers to cook multiple recipes, like this one. – An explanation of PIP (pot-in-pot) cooking. And here’s another one. And a great comprehensive video.

– Instant Pot Hot Sauce (Simply Happy Foodie)

Continue reading The Instant Pot Starter Guide for Me and You on 101 Cookbooks

This Easy Chocolate Chip Shortbread Recipe is buttery, and loaded with mini chocolate chips! Only 5 ingredients necessary for a chocolate-twist on a classic shortbread recipe.

I partnered with my friend’s at Bob’s Red Mill on this Chocolate Chip Shortbread recipe. I only partner with brands that I love and use in my own kitchen. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this website possible.

Have lots of leftovers from Thanksgiving? Here is a delicious recipe to use some of the leftovers in a new way. For the topping, I use a mixture of potatoes and cauliflower to reduce the number of carbs in the dish. If you are not a fan of cauliflower use all potatoes. Don’t forget the leftover cranberry sauce to add as a side.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Choose either an 8×8-inch or a 9×14-inch oven-proof pan, depending on how much food you have. Oval gratin dishes or a casserole dish also work well, as do individual baking dishes. Butter the dish well.

To reheat the filling before putting the casserole in the oven.

Combine the filling ingredients in the baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and heat in the microwave until warm (not hot), about 4 minutes on high.
If you don’t wish to use the microwave, reheat the mixture in a saucepan and pour into the baking dish.

To make the topping:

Thoroughly combine the mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Mix in the melted butter and cheddar cheese. Spread the topping over the filling in the baking dish, spreading it to the edges of the dish. Place the baking dish on a foil covered cookie sheet. The filling may bubble over.

Bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes. You will know it is done when the pie filling is bubbling hot and the topping turns golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Rule #1: Make sure your kids are wearing helmets for dinner. Safety First. No but really, my little girl is quite opinionated on her helmet and there are some nights where she wants to wear it all the time and I have zero issue with that plan, especially if she insists on standing on a damn bar stool […]

The post My Three Rules for Raising Healthy Eaters appeared first on Macheesmo.

Here’s what happened this past week:

I think the biggest and greatest thing that happened this week was Thanksgiving (and all the preparations made for Thanksgiving)! We bundled up like crazy and headed out to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was the coldest Thanksgiving since 1904…or something like that…and we were the smart ones who decided that *this* was the year to go. Ha!

Gordon woke up at 4 and headed out to save some great spots for us at 4:30. Pretty sure he was freezing cold within the first 30 minutes he was there. He met up with a group of Dads and they laid out blankets, camp chairs and rope to really section off where our families would be able to watch. I rolled up around 7:30 with the three kids and our big stroller. Man, are there angry people when you ask them to move so you can move your stroller through a crowd. I thought about NOT bringing it, but then Eddie would have surely frozen to death. We have a sleeping bag (“foot muff”) attached to his stroller seat that is perfect for cold weather.

We watched the floats and balloons go by and loved the confetti thrown at us and all the folks wishing us Happy Thanksgiving. The marching bands were my favorite, as well as the lip syncing celebrities…half of who I didn’t know. Martina McBride looked particularly cranky, but who wouldn’t be with no pants on. Did she not know it was going to be cold? Zip up your coat, throw on a hat and while you’re at it, maybe some pants? (She was wearing a dress that definitely showed a lot of leg.)

The nice thing about watching the parade on the Upper West Side is once it’s over, it’s over and you can go home. No back-ups or holdups. So in total it was just shy of 2 hours this year. When you watch it further along the route, people get held up because Macy’s films performances in front of their store.

My kids loved all the balloons and it was such a fun and festive thing to wake up to do.

For Thanksgiving early afternoon, Gordon took a nap while I roasted a turkey and then we had a few people over for our meal. It was really lovely, plus the food was pretty darn great too 🙂

Gordon went to play in a turkey bowl football game Friday morning with temperatures similar to the day before. Then later in the day, I went to a facial and massage appointment. I keep paying for massage envy but never use my credits. But I heard if I just cancel, then I loose all my credits. I think I can gift a few, so that’s what I’ll do before canceling the service. Though I do love a good massage.

My in-laws flew in Saturday from Portland because they came to watch Eddie while I take my older two kids to Paris! SO exciting!

Sunday, we went to church and I cooked a mighty good pork roast.

Monday, I went crazy trying to finish everything I needed to finish for work because Tuesday we took the redeye flight to Paris. Bananas!

So coming up this week:

Poor Eddie and Gordon are stuck in NYC while Brooke, Blake and I party it up at Disneyland, the Eiffel Tower and Amsterdam.

How some Ethiopian Jews are living—and cooking—in Israel almost 40 years after their arrival. Naftali Aklum extinguishes his cigarette at a café in Beersheba, a desert city in southern Israel, having just told me the story of his family’s emigration from Ethiopia. We’re about to wrap our conversation when he reveals quite shockingly that he […]